Increase in Fatal Drug Overdoses Across the United States Driven by Synthetic Opioids Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic [December 17, 2020, 8:00 AM ET]

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Health Alert Network (HAN)
• Description:
  December 17, 2020, 8:00 AM ET
  
  CDCHAN-00438
  
  The purpose of this Health Alert Network (HAN) Advisory is to alert public health departments, healthcare professionals, first responders, harm reduction organizations, laboratories, and medical examiners and coroners to—
  
  (1) substantial increases in drug overdose deaths across the United States, primarily driven by rapid increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids excluding methadone (hereafter referred to as synthetic opioids), likely illicitly manufactured fentanyl;
  
  (2) a concerning acceleration of the increase in drug overdose deaths, with the largest increase recorded from March 2020 to May 2020,coinciding with the implementation of widespread mitigation measures for the COVID-19 pandemic;
  
  (3) the changing geographic distribution of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, with the largest percentage increases occurring in states in the western United States;
  
  (4) significant increases in overdose deaths involving psychostimulants with abuse potential (hereafter referred to as psychostimulants) such as methamphetamine; and
  
  (5) recommendations for communities when responding to the evolving overdose crisis.
  
  
• Content Notes:
  Notice of Possible Alert Expiration: The CDC Health Alert, Advisory, Update, and Info Service announcements, distributed by the Health Alert Network (HAN), were active on the date they were originally published. Publication dates have been added to Titles for clarity. A CDC Health Alert, Advisory, Update, and Info Service announcement may expire at any time. They may also be updated or superseded according to later developments. None of the CDC Health Alert, Advisory, Update, or Info Service announcements in the Stacks HAN Collection should be assumed to be current or active. Stacks preserves HAN announcements in order to maintain a record of past CDC actions. Stacks in not designed for up-to-the-minute notifications. For the list of current CDC Health Alert, Advisory, Update, or Info Service announcements, patrons should visit the Health Alert Network (HAN) webpage at https://www.cdc.gov/han/php/about/index.html. For up to the minute reports, subscribe to the HAN email alert system hosted by CDC News & Updates at https://tools.cdc.gov/campaignproxyservice/subscriptions.aspx?topic_id=USCDC_486
  
  Categories of Health Alert Network (HAN) messages:
  
  Health Alert: Requires immediate action or attention, highest level of importance.
  
  Health Advisory: May not require immediate action; provides important information for a specific incident or situation.
  
  Health Update: Unlikely to require immediate action; provides updated information regarding an incident or situation.
  
  HAN Info Service: Does not require immediate action; provides general public health information.
  
  
• Subjects:
  COVID-19 Drug Overdose/mortality Fentanyl/poisoning Pandemics Street Drugs
• Keywords:
  HAN Health Alert Network
• Source:
  HAN ; 438
• Series:
  Health Alert Network
• Subseries:
  CDC Health Advisory
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Alert
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• Issue:
  00438
• Collection(s):
  Health Alert Network (HAN)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:50010c8a783d9582e71cdf86f6149eed6fc114d1929f6340d4fdc8f4f3b809a71853476e7b2837094cf2cf4f513316961ebbacde5852befd7560dde945a06e80
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/98848/cdc_98848_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 576.56 KB ]